Green Options » organic garden

Is My Organic Garden Saving Me Money on Grocery Bills?

Scott Cooney — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:28:25 +0000

When Michelle Obama helped break ground on the White House organic garden, I’m sure she understood that the benefits went far beyond the borders of the veggie patch. It may help create green collar, shovel-ready jobs. Low-income kids from local schools get an incredible opportunity they will never forget: playing in a vegetable garden and learning where our food comes from, at the White House, while they grow food that may well be eaten by our President or the President of Costa Rica or South Africa. The garden also provided other intangibles that America needs right now: hope, independence, and a can-do attitude. Michelle’s approval rating stands at 84%, and most articles talking about why she’s so popular will mention the garden.

But I have to wonder…did she guess that she’d be saving the taxpayers money by reducing the grocery bills at the White House? A recent Wall Street Journal article touted the savings in backyard gardens: investments as small as a dollar can produce $75 worth of veggies, and the average family with a garden saves about $530 per year on groceries.

Intrigued, I decided to investigate my own cost/benefit analysis in my small organic garden in San Francisco.

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The Influence of Obama’s Organic Garden Grows

Scott Cooney — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:06:37 +0000

On March 20th, 2009, Michelle Obama and the kids broke ground on the White House Lawn for an organic garden. I wrote about it for Ecopreneurist.com, and suggested that the Obamas could help generate thousands of new green businesses across the country as people increasingly hire organic gardeners to tend their backyard and produce food for them. In addition to this terrific development, other dignitaries might follow suit, leading to a worldwide revolution in public awareness of sustainable agriculture.

Maria Shriver, California’s First Lady, took the plunge and…

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Home Grown Food, What Could Be More Sustainable and Healthy?

Scott Cooney — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:33:44 +0000

The Obamas could change America and the world if they were to swap out some of their White House lawn for an organic or biodynamic garden. But what about YOUR backyard? Heck, for that matter, what about your front yard?

Hiring a good landscape designer knowledgeable about permaculture and organic/biodynamic gardening would be a terrific step toward food independence for you and your family. With Monsanto and other agribusiness contributing $60+ million to political campaigns last year, to Republicans by a wide margin (but down from almost a 4:1 ratio just 8 years ago, as an interesting aside probably affiliated with the growing interest in ethanol), isn’t it time to take some money and power away from them? One easy way to do that is to start growing your own food, free of GMOs, free of chemicals, and free of transportation pollution required to bring it to your kitchen.

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Will Barack Obama Create a Whole New Industry of Organic Gardening Eco-entrepreneurs?

Scott Cooney — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:09:35 +0000

The sales of organic foods have slowed in the last year, after almost ten years of at least 20% growth. The economy has cooled even some of the hottest markets, including organics, but with 6% growth in 2008, the organic industry remains strong and resilient. A terrific ecopreneurial opportunity exists for people interested in helping others set up, maintain and harvest organic gardens. And the industry is about to get a big shot in the arm from the Obama Administration.

Or at least, we hope it is. Michael Pollan, sustainable food activist and author of several books, advocated for turning part of the White House lawn into an organic garden. If you google “Obama Organic Garden”, you’ll see the overwhelmingly positive response from the blogosphere. While the Obamas have not commented on the possibilities, I’d wager they’re considering it. Their daughters attend a private school which uses organic ingredients in their food, unbleached napkins made from

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Watch This Video: Which President Will Plant a Food Garden in the White House?

Reenita Malhotra — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:02:22 +0000

As we get closer to the election polls, citizens want the two Presidential candidates to listen closely to the voice of America. Brighter Planet and 1Sky, recently conceived a user generated video contest in partnership with Vimeo.com to call for citizens to speak to the next President of America about climate change.

This particular video came in at third place. It calls for the President to lead by example on climate change by planting a food garden in the White House. Says Roger Doiron, the creator,

“This video was made to support the “Eat the View” campaign, a citizen-powered effort to petition the next President to show leadership on global issues such as climate change and food security by converting part of the White House’s 18 acre grounds back into an edible landscape. It made sense in the past for the “First Family” to eat foods grown close to home and - given the climate challenge - it makes sense again. It features me, Roger Doiron, digging a new organic garden on my white house lawn with an invitation to the next President to do the same.

Recently, we have seen Presidential candidate, Obama dance on the Ellen Degeneres Show and Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin do a cameo on Saturday night Live. But who if any will actually follow the example set here? Will any of them actually put their money where their mouth is when it comes to taking action on climate change?

Take a look at this video.

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Green Role Models: Finally, an Organic Princess I Want my Daughter to Adore

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:35:12 +0000

Little girls love princess, but eco, feminist parents lament the adoration of helpless females who need rescued by princes. My daughter has thankfully moved away from the princess phase, no matter how much I tried to shield her from its influence from the start, but she often still asks about real princesses. I tell her that yes they exist, but that royal families aren’t necessarily role models. Now, I have found a princess that is inspiring her subjects to grow organic vegetables.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is calling on residents of Nan to plant organic gardens. Her own Thong Noi palace, which she visits once or twice a year, is a model of organic farming. Somsak Yasang, the princess’ gardener, explains:

Sometimes the princess cuts vegetables in the backyard herself. The vegetables grown in the palace are served on her table. The princess also sells home-grown vegetables at reasonable prices. Some of the surplus produce is processed and sold. Fruit including jackfruit, tamarind and papaya were donated to the nearby Nan Panyanugul school for mentally challenged children.

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